


Lightning Never Strikes Twice

by EternalSailorNeptune_53



Series: Final Fantasy Versus XV [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Beginnings, Crossover, Gen, Post-Lightning Returns, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22237252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalSailorNeptune_53/pseuds/EternalSailorNeptune_53
Summary: Takes place during: Chapter 3: The Open WorldRight when Lightning thought she was done fighting every second of her life, she's called to Eos for one final mission assisting Prince Noctis and his retinue in getting to Altissia safely to complete their mission against the Empire. Great, just what she needed. Being in an unknown world stuck with a quartet of rich boys she wanted absolutely nothing to do with. This ought to be fun...
Series: Final Fantasy Versus XV [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600693
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Lightning Never Strikes Twice

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY. Let me explain for those not aware before y'all get too confuzzled and call me a weirdo.
> 
> To make this very clear, this is part of a crossover AU my older sister and I came up with involving KH and FFXV, but the portion I had the most to do with was the executive decision to add XIII to it since my dumbass made the fatal mistake of taking a gander at the NoctLight tag on Tumblr. As a result, I wanted to get to know the characters more, went through the trilogy (I know a lot of people hate it, but it's actually a really fun game series), and the rest is history. To make a long story short, I shoved an entire bag of jellybeans up my ass AND decided to include XIII as part of XV for this AU because the two were originally one as Versus XIII before stuff happened and XV because its own thing, yadda yadda, you know the story.
> 
> It basically takes place half a year after the end of Lightning Returns after the new world (which here is called Astréos since it's now a sister world/dimension to Eos :3) was born, making most of the XIII characters bar like Serah and Yeul 500-1000+ years old chronologically still bc of the crap that went down in LR and junk. But, you guys know that part, so let's just get on with the show and long overdue reposting onto AO3. Good luck and have fun =w="

_“A prince? You’re asking me to help escort… a prince.”_

_“I wouldn’t exactly say ‘escort’. What I’m asking you to do is more to accompany him and his retinue until they reach Altissia.”_

_“Why me of all people? And if they’ve been gone for a while, don’t you think they’re fine on their own?”_

_“Believe me, I know they are. But after… recent events here in Insomnia, there’s no such thing as being too careful.” Out came a peach colored folder full of photos and official documents, all on her and basic history she was sure a certain ‘new world creation phenomenon’ had preserved and written in for public records even in its neighboring dimension. No other explanation served, so she continued to listen intently with reluctance swallowed. “Says here you’ve had quite a bit of military history as the sergeant of something called the ‘Guardian Corps’?”_

_“Correct. Since my teenage years.”_

_“And your superior officer was a man named Amodar?”_

_“Lieutenant Amodar. That’s right.”_

_“I see. Keep in mind, I wouldn’t hire just any old nobody off the streets to do the job. Looking it over very carefully a few times, someone with your experience looks to be the right fit. Question is, can you actually do it?”_

_“Doesn’t matter if someone can or can’t. Some things in life you just do.”_

_Taking that as a firm agreement, the man known infamously as “The Immortal” closed the folder of the former soldier’s documents and officially sealed her new mission. With everything said that needed to be, directions to the next train stopping near her destination in Duscae, and a formal salute, she was off carrying the needed profiles of the four men she was to meet. He himself at the time needed to leave for a checkpoint in a place known as “Hammerhead”, so when her part of the deal was to come, she’d be ready as she ever would for it._

* * *

Or so Lightning so wanted to believe. Truth of the matter was, this new mission she sorely hoped would be her absolute final one was the dead last thing on her mind. From the whole Purge travesty with the long-abolished Sanctum that inadvertently turned her into a “dreaded” l’Cie to waking up from a crystal slumber after five whole centuries only to have thirteen days total to save her loved ones and others from impending doom, to say she was sick and tired of fighting for her life was an unfunny understatement.

But, the forces of fate she lived to fight were, as usual, on the opposing side. Because there she found herself; slumped against the window of her train seat wearing the outfit she’d long dubbed the “Heartstealer” from her first times wearing it, even further away from her new home with the loved ones she once again had to leave behind for the time being. Promises made to come back after her “short trip” she vowed to keep at all costs. And no spoiled little prince or his merry band of bodyguards was going to get in the way of her own decisions.

“Next stop, Alstor!” the conductor announced, the train pulling up at the closest station to where Lightning was asked it go. It’d still be a walk away from the actual spot, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t manage.

 _‘Where did Cor tell me to go again?’_ Lightning wondered in her thoughts, looking at the specific directions given. _‘The “Coernix Station”? Doesn’t sound like much of a waiting area.’_

Looking around her while figuring out which way to go after what, Lightning seemed to truly take in how alien the place felt to her. It wasn’t at all like anything she’d experienced years ago back on Cocoon, or even the short time she spent journeying in Nova Chrysalia. No, the Duscae region itself had more of a… retro, much simpler feeling to it. But, whatever it looked like, she had more important things to do than sightsee a place she never intended on seeing again for the rest of her life after she was done.

“Still seems like quite a walk,” Lightning commented, glancing up at the frontmost direction to see no leads on the station. “Best take a shortcut so nobody shows up to a missing recruit. What’s…? ‘Alstor Slough’, huh? I’ll just cut through that.”

Rolling up her navigating directions, Lightning took a turn that led her right along a path going through a grassy area full of pinkish wooden plants growing out from the bristled plains. So long as she stayed on that one path and went the right way, nothing could go wrong for the armed former soldier. Staying on guard was second nature to her, so any mysterious creatures lurking around would have to deal with her first and foremost.

And as if taking heed of a secret cue, the first unlucky volunteers caught sight of her and stepped forward. Well, Lightning wouldn’t say so much stepped as she would a group of pale, sickly-looking mutant wolf-like creatures with teeth sharper than her own blade _charging_ her way.

“Your funeral, not mine,” Lightning stated, unsheathing Blazefire Saber from the case strapped to her body. In the blink of an eye, the gunblade unfolded itself into its sword form, giving its owner the okay to run at the first of the strange creatures to cut right through it.

Lightning didn’t have any sort of clue what she was fighting, but she cared just as little at the same time. The wolf-like mutants in spite of their ferocious appearances didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight either, considering how easily the woman was cutting through them like a hot knife against cold butter. One tried so foolishly to take her down from behind, only to be silenced by Lightning whipping around and firing a strategic bullet out of her weapon’s giant pistol mode before it unfolded back into a blade to effortlessly take down its brethren.

With one remaining in sight, the beast lunged to try and take a fatal bite of her. Instead of any sort of flesh or muscle, however, it stopped rigged in its tracks when it received a unpleasant mouthful of sword cutting right through the back of its head. Lightning ripped her weapon from the creature, giving it one more cautious slash to ensure it’d truly died. Now surrounded by lifeless carcasses of the pack, Lightning folded Blazefire Saber back into a gun and resheathed it, walking along her way as if uninterrupted.

“Not much of a fight,” she commented, brushing herself free of dust or dirt. “Here’s to hoping the other creatures here are smarter than them.”

Throughout the rest of her trek, Lightning only somewhat got her wish. As she’d consciously expected, more of the same beast tried to make a meal of her, but she valiantly cut her path open again going through each one. By her arrival even closer to her goal than before, Lightning was looking rather scuffed up. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as fights she’d been more used to, but there was still hoping the Coernix Station had some refreshments to give her more of a boost.

 _‘Here we are,’_ Lightning thought, walking uphill and crossing over to the actual rest area across the road. Her stomach growled a few more steps in, the woman knowing better than to ignore hunger and risk collapsing in the most unorthodox way possible. “Let’s see what’s at that ‘Crow’s Nest’ place.”

“Welcome, Miss!” a man she assumed to be the diner’s cook greeted her once she sat down at the bar. “What can I get for ya today?”

Lightning looked up at the menu and its three most prominent choices being promoted. Fries and salmon anybody with a brain could recognize, but the beverage and names of all the choices were absolutely alien to her. “Are you… ‘Kenny’?”

“Who, me? No! The food here’s just named after our mascot, Kenny Crow! I’m sure you’ve heard of him, haven’t you?”

“Kenny who?”

“Oh. A foreigner, are ya? That’s okay, everyone has their first time to the Crow’s Nest at one point! What would you like?”

“A plate of ‘Kenny’s fries’ will do. And a bottle of… Jetty’s? Do you have a mascot named Jetty too?”

“Nah, that’s just the name of Kenny Crow’s trademark mineral water! It’s good, you wanna try some?”

“Sure. A bottle of that too’s good.”

“Comin’ right up!”

As good as the salmon looked, Lightning only had so much Gil on her to spend at the moment, so spending 1,400 of it on a plate of cooked fish wasn’t a smart option. Instead, she paid the 200 Gil owed for her fries and water and waited patiently until both showed up. Since she was able to enjoy the meal, now all that remained for Lightning was for the “royal retinue” to show up and pick her up for the mission. Joy, she thought without a hint of it in her head. Travelling with strangers she didn’t know or care about in an unfamiliar world. Etro knows what could await her then.

* * *

The fries digesting in her gut replenished plenty of energy lost fighting monsters in the infested plains, and the quarter-consumed Jetty’s water bottle helped a plenty. While checking out the “Shop & Café” next door to see if she needed anything from it, Lightning saw an unfamiliar, sleek fancy black car parked in front of where others like it would sit to refill its tank. She would have thought nothing of it, were it not for the four young gentlemen in black clothing close to her (physical; how old she really was as a result of her awakening from stasis was something between only her and her loved ones back home) age range inadvertently proving themselves as the owners of said vehicle.

From the shop window, Lightning picked up on all four faces, opening the documenting profiles she was given on one of the small white tables in the shop. Looking between the clear headshots and the men outside, she had a match. Before being given the chance to pack the documents up, she heard a voice belonging to one of them speak up and get closer to her proximity.

“—Here we are! Finally meeting ex-sergeant Lightning Farron!” the rather perky voice chirped, its source a scrawny spiky-haired, blue-eyed blond with youthful freckles and a weird section of flannel hanging out from under his top. “Man, I’d bet he’s this tall, burly, really hairy fella— probably something like Gladio, but even more gruff than that!” He took a look into the shop she was in, catching the sight of her but not yet fully processing reality. “Yeah, and he’s gotta be really strong with his petite figure; soft, luscious lips pink like the rose, breathtakingly _alluring_ blue eyes, wavy pink hair, and—!” The wide-eyed look on his face quickly informed Lightning the realization struck him quicker than her moniker. “—Is actually an extremely beautiful woman?!”

“Run that by me again?” Lightning questioned, folding her arms and cocking her head to the side.

“Err, uhhh… I—”

Another man stepped in before the first could snap fully out of his stupor, this one taller and more mature looking with slicked up auburn hair and viridescent eyes able to properly see through oval-shaped glasses. He saw her too, only holding up information given to him prior to see if it was right. “‘Lightning Farron’?”

“Who wants to know?” Lightning asked, ever-rigid towards the man with the befittingly fancy accent.

“Ignis S. Scientia, advisor to the Prince of Lucis. I trust you’ve been informed of us by a one Cor Leonis?”

Okay, at least she could be sure they were definitely the right people, now by physical appearance and name in the profiles. “Oh. So, you have to be the ‘royal retinue’ I’ve been put on the escort mission with. In that case, yes.” Lightning gave Ignis a formal salute of honor to show courtesy, not minding his stoic expression not moving an inch from its default form. She ignored the blond examining her at several angles, dismissive of whatever was going on in his head. “Former Sergeant Lightning Farron, at your service, Ignis Scientia. A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Farron.” Ignis on the other hand gave her a formal half-bow, already on her civil side with his polite first impression.

“Uhhh… huh,” the blond one stuttered, unable to fully digest Lightning’s physical form as if she were some ethereal goddess walking among the mortal realm.

“…Can I help you?” Lightning half-hissed, already running low on patience for that one’s brainless nonsense.

“Don’t mind Prompto, he gets easily befuddled meeting new young women,” Ignis warned her. “Come with me. You might as well make yourself more acquainted with the other two while you’re at it.”

Following Ignis with the one named Prompto not too far behind, Lightning saw only one of the missing two men she had yet to meet. This one she figured to be the tallest, the incredibly muscular build pairing well with the gruff long dark chestnut mullet hairstyle and noticeable scar running down one of his rust-colored eyes. Well put together as he was, Lightning remained unaffected by physical appearance alone, though her hands now rested on her hips with the profiles in her grasp rather than be folded in her stubborn arms.

“And who’s this here, Iggy? Don’t think I’ve ever seen this one around these parts before,” the tall and muscular one mentioned, his tone giving off hints of a flirty vibe.

“Our newest recruit for the journey’s course,” Ignis answered.

“Really? You’re Sergeant Farron, huh?” Now his eyes were on her, almost as carefully as Prompto’s were but a lot less clumsy.

“That’s me.” Lightning skimmed through the files until she found a match on the burly one’s features. “‘Gladiolus Amicitia’, I assume?”

“King’s Shield in the flesh. But, calling me just ‘Gladio’ is perfectly fine. Gotta say, wasn’t expecting such a pretty face like yours to go with a name like ‘Lightning’.”

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Nah. Cor recruited you for a reason, so you’ve gotta have lots of fighting spirit in ya. Otherwise, the Marshal wouldn’t have even considered you.”

“Experience, I’ve got. ‘Fighting spirit’, on the other hand, is what I’m not allowed to get rid of nowadays.” Lightning unveiled Blazefire Saber, flicking her wrist forward to unfold it into its sword form to both the awe of Gladio and Prompto, and the intrigue of Ignis. “So long as I’ve got this by my side, I’m stuck in the battlefield once again.”

“Some sword you got there, Sarge. A little small if you ask me, though.”

“And why’s it have a trigger?” Prompto wondered, running a finger over the rim until Lightning pulled her gunblade away from his reach. “Just for decor?”

“No, that’s real. When I don’t wanna use the blade, I just shoot my targets.”

Prompto let out a loud gasp of excitement at the revelation, starry eyes now glued to Blazefire Saber. “You use guns too?! Ooh, ooh! Show us a demonstration?! Pleeeease?”

“Rather not. Wouldn’t wanna cause a scene at such a little rest stop.” She folded it back and put it away while Prompto’s face fell disappointed. “It’ll be worth the wait once we get moving.”

“That is, as soon as His Highness comes back. He should be just about finishing up his talk with the Crow’s Nest owner momentarily,” Ignis guessed. “Seems a friend of ours required our assistance, and Noct’s asking for directions on where to find the missing dog tags.”

“As in the one for pets, or the one for soldiers?”

“The second one,” Gladio answered. “I’m sure you’ve had some when you were in the line of duty where you’re from, right?”

Before Lightning could answer the question, footsteps approached the group. Turning her head, she’d found the last of the retinue; the Lucian Prince himself. His photo seemed to add up with his appearance; messily spiked hair blacker than the night sky, eyes a shade of navy blue as modest as his current expression. For royalty, Lightning figured, he certainly didn’t dress the part. How he acted, however, was beyond her knowledge and concern for the time being.

“Hi there,” he greeted her politely. “Guys, who’s this?”

“This, Noctis, would be the team’s latest addition that Cor informed us of,” Ignis told him, the prince’s face shifting to a noticeable disappointment at the news. “I’d like for you to meet former Sergeant Lightning Farron.”

“Oh. So this is who’s joining the team the rest of the way? That’s… great.” You’d have to be deaf to not hear the blatant malcontent in Noctis’ tone, especially so when he looked at Lightning.

“I know, right?!” Prompto cheered, he himself elated at the woman’s presence in stark contrast to his standoffish best friend. “Dude! Her weapon? It’s a gun _and_ a sword all in one! It’s like the 2-in-1 of weapons! You should see it!”

Noctis didn’t seem to entirely believe such a silly claim, merely accepting it as the other boy’s typical excitement at whatever. “Thanks, Prompto, but I’ll have to pass. Alright, and you’re ‘Sergeant Farron’, then?”

“The one and only.” Lightning pulled out His Highness’ profile, looking over his name with a raised pink brow. “‘Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV’. Who has their home as their middle name? You don’t see my name being ‘Lightning Bodhum Farron’ or anything like that.” Then again, Fang and Vanille were two exceptions to that, but even that was based more on Oerban culture than nobility.

“You didn’t exactly see me asking for your help either, and yet here we are.”

“Wow, Princess, mind telling me what just crawled up your ass and died?” Gladio scolded, as taken aback as the other two by Noctis’ snarky comment towards the equivalent of a new guest.

“Recently? A lot of things including my home town,” Noctis bit back. “Look, it’s nothing personal towards someone I don’t even know, but you heard Cor; he didn’t have a reason to worry about us anymore.”

“Him not being worried does not equate to rejecting another pair of hands to ease what lies ahead for us,” Ignis reminded him. “Someone with Lightning’s militant combat experience wouldn’t be anything except highly beneficial.”

“Yeah, so quit acting like a rude little punk in front of the new girl and suck it up,” Gladio growled. “‘Cause from here on out, you’re stuck with her.”

“It’s not my problem on whether or not he wants my help,” Lightning clarified to the elder two of the group, her frigid teal eyes making full contact with Noctis’ cooled midnight ones. “Frankly, Your Highness, you’re not the only one who wishes I wasn’t here right now. But, I still have a mission to complete. So, here’s the deal: we go to Altissia and back to settle what you need to, then after, we part ways forever as if you never even met me. Sound fair?”

“Fine by me,” Noctis agreed, shrugging indifferently.

“It’s fine by me too. Now, quit complaining.”

“Great start,” Gladio sighed sarcastically, not looking forward to any possible future discord between one of his best friends and the ex-soldier.

Lightning waved off Noctis getting inside the car, turning her attention to Prompto still inspecting her like she was some sort of murder suspect. “Okay, what’s with you? If you’re not gonna actually ask me something, then take a picture. It’ll last longer.” _FLASH!_ “…Were you seriously waiting for me to say that just to do it for real?”

“Not exactly, but why pass up such a nice photo op anyways?” Prompto wondered, looking at the new photo of the scowling, but otherwise elegant-looking Lightning taken on his camera. “Wow! You are really photogenic! Of course, I wasn’t exactly expecting you to be a girl in the first place, but either way, it’s a good kind of surprise.”

“You didn’t know I was a girl? How?”

“Well, when I heard we’re joining up with someone named ‘Lightning’, I kinda figured you were… a guy? You don’t hear about a lot of girls called that, anyways.” Prompto had his hands up, Lightning’s scowl giving him the impression she was going to react poorly if he didn’t think his words through well enough. “It’s not a bad thing! Boy or girl, we’re really happy to have you aboard!”

“Most of us, anyways,” Ignis corrected, glancing over at Noctis’ apathetic expression as the prince could only be thinking of how much he didn’t want the extra help from anybody.

“Tomato, tomahto, Igster! Give Noct a little time and he might consider _lightning_ up.”

“Prompto, we haven’t even gotten back on the road yet,” Gladio warned with disdain. “Don’t make Lightning already regret having to travel with us.”

 _‘Wouldn’t say he’s made me do something that’s already there,’_ Lightning scoffed internally, flipping to the last profile. “‘Prompto Argentum’, huh?”

“You got it!” Prompto confirmed, pointing to himself with one thumb as his heel leaned into the ground. “My name can mean ‘quicksilver’ if you put it together. So, you could say I’m about as fast as ‘lightning’ myself. Coincidence?”

“More like a cruel irony.” Lightning rolled her eyes openly at Prompto’s flirty comment, but the boy didn’t let up all that much.

“Oooh, so witteh. I can tell you’re gonna do just fine with us!”

The honk of the Regalia’s horn courtesy of Ignis in the driver’s seat cut their conversation even shorter, Prompto hopping into the middle seat next to Gladio in the back. Lightning seemed lost in thought while ensuring everything was with her and accounted for. Once she left that station with the other four, Etro knew how long it’d be until she was finally free to go and be back alongside her actual loved ones she’d worked so hard to have a happy ending with after 500 years worth of utter Hell. That in itself would have to wait; for now, there was one last important task she had to put up with and earn herself a peaceful start over for real.

“Come on, new girl! We don’t wanna hit traffic!” Prompto called out to her, waving his hand high to get her attention.

“Be right there,” Lightning sighed, getting into the leftmost backseat behind the driver’s one and buckling in next to Prompto. “So, what’s our first order of business?”

“We’re meeting up with my sister, Iris, in Lestallum,” Gladio said. “She thankfully made it out okay from the attack on Insomnia.”

“But, she didn’t say to come right away! Just when we’re able to get there,” Prompto stated as the Regalia finally drove away from the Alstor Coernix Station and onto the road. “And word on the street is there’s a Chocobo Ranch not too far away from here! Wouldn’t hurt to check that out, would it?”

“There’s no time for that. Lestallum first, chocobos later,” Gladio retorted, far too concerned about his younger sister to agree to partake in a casual visit just yet.

“Maybe we’ll be able to do both,” Noctis suggested. “But whatever’s the most possible right now is what’s first.”

“Never thought visiting chocobos would be one of the choices,” Lightning commented, already dreading where things possibly might go if they stop at the ranch despite she herself liking the creatures just fine.

“There’s never a wrong time to ride some chocobos. Can’t really blame Prompto for wanting to see the ranch; the big things are pretty cute!” That had to have been the first time Lightning heard Noctis’ voice go up an octave from excitement in her presence, something that surely wouldn’t last next time he was to have an actual conversation with her. “I kinda hope we do stop there first just to see and maybe ride a few.”

 _‘Nice to see our priorities are where they should be,’_ Lightning sarcastically commented in her mind, leaning with her elbow propped on the roofless side window as the road wind blew parts of her roseate hair backwards. “Day one…”

Staring out from the car at her surroundings, Lightning recognized the Alstor Slough, having been the only area she’d actually been in on the current route. Aside from that, no place she’d been in long enough compared to the world she was in now. It went without saying that Lightning was definitely not in Astréos (or the long-felled Cocoon, but at least her birthplace didn’t have anything comparable to Eos like her closest bet with Nova Chrysalia’s Gothic city of Luxerion) anymore.

If it was going to be a while before she contacted the others at home outside of digital communication, then it was about time the ex-Guardian Corps soldier made do until her awaited mission completion arrived to finally let her rest. In no way did she approve of it in the first place, but as she was used to: mandatory duty was mandatory duty, regardless of her exact feelings on the matter.

**Author's Note:**

> (If you're wondering about how the train gets from Eos to Astréos, think like Master Yen Sid's wizard pimp train that takes you from Twilight Town to Mysterious Tower and vice-versa. That's the best way I can explain it lol)
> 
> In advance, I apologize for Noct being a butt-baby (well, more than usual lol). He's in mourning and just believes there's no extra help needed. He does get better though in regards to how he gets on with Light. I can't stress that enough, and you'll definitely be seeing it in future uploads of the other oneshots (which are not necessarily in chronological order; I will thankfully clarify that in the summary) I wrote for this part of the AU. For now, I hope you liked the beginning of this craziness and there's definitely more to come!


End file.
